At Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese visitors will meet two generations of
cheese makers in this family-run business. The limestone land brings a
unique flavour to the milk of this coastal farmstead. All Carrigaline
cheese is handmade. The tour will include viewing of the cheese making
process and facility, both live and audio-visual as well as tasting of
six different flavours of artisan cheese.

Durrus Cheese is a small farm situated on the Sheeps Head peninsula,
an area unspoilt and of natural beauty. Visitors will meet with the
cheese makers , see some of the process, have the opportunity to ask
questions. There will also be the opportunity of hill walking along
some of the route of the award winning Sheeps Head Way.

Ardsallagh Goat Farm is a family run business who make high quality,
handmade, natural dairy products including bottled goats milk, goats
cheese, and goats yogurt. They believe in the production of honest,
natural, fresh produce. Visitors will learn all of goats cheese
production, experience how cheese is made and finally, enjoy the
spoils with an Ardsallagh cookery demo.

The Discover Farmhouse Cheese programme, a new EU co-funded campaign
organised by Bord Bia, is a celebration of farmhouse cheese in
Ireland. Bord Bia is encouraging the public to discover the unique
character of the individual cheeses and how products are produced on
the farm, the transparency of the supply chain, and the story of the
makers behind the products.

Farmhouse cheeses are made in a huge variety of styles, from the
freshest cheese to the rustic and mature hard cheese that has been
carefully minded for months as it edges towards perfect maturity. In
Ireland, all farmhouse cheeses are unique to each producer. This
differs greatly to cheeses available on the Continent where they are
made by many farms and dairies under strict guidelines to ensure
consistent standards (e.g. Camembert or Parmigiano Reggiano).

Figures released earlier this year by Bord Bia showed that retail
sales in Ireland have increased by 43% since 2011, to reach €4 million
per annum. The total Irish farmhouse cheese sector is valued at over
€12 million per year at farm gate level, with exports valued at
approximately €4.5 million. The rise in the value of farmhouse cheese
sales is largely due to increased market penetration but also an
increase in frequency of purchase. There are currently over 50
farmhouse cheesemakers in Ireland producing over 150 types of cheese.

Speaking on the new Discover Farmhouse Cheese campaign, Eimear
O’Donnell, Consumer Dairy Sector Manager, Bord Bia said: “We are very
lucky in Ireland that our farmhouse cheeses come from individual farms
and that there are lots of producers. This means that consumers have
many different types of cheese, each with its own distinct flavour,
which they can choose from. We would encourage people to go out and
sample as many as they can, so they can find new ones to love – and
what better way to do that, than to meet the producers and to try the
product first hand!”